Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)

What is Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)?

Platelet Rich Plasma is the patient’s own blood plasma that has been separated from the red and white blood cells using a specially designed centrifuge.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) contains growth factors and bio-active enzymes that have been shown to stimulate tissue repair, enhanced hair health and thickening, as well as improving the overall growing environment for thinning hair. When combined with A-cell patients see even better results.

What is ACell?

ACell’sMatriStem technology works at the cellular level to repair and remodel damaged tissues. ACell has a broad range of uses in surgical procedures, and is a naturally occurring matrix of proteins found in tissue layers.

When ACell is placed into a surgical site or wound, it is adsorbed, and believed to stimulate the migration of adult stem cells to the damaged tissues. When used in hair restoration small micro-wounds are created in the area of thinning. ACell is thin applied with PRP to the wound site to create the environment ideal for helping reverse hair miniaturization and creates an ideal environment to regenerate dormant follicular tissues, thereby producing improved quality in hair growth.

Acell

For more information about how ACell Inc. is manufacturing innovative products that are used to repair and rejuvenate tissue at the cellular level, visit their website.

How is it done?

In hair restoration, ACell is combined with Platelet Rich Plasma PRP and injected into the scalp. The application of ACell and PRP causes miniaturized hair follicles to become healthier and larger, producing more robust hair growth.

The nutrient rich plasma (PRP) is extracted from the patient’s blood and then concentrated before being reintroduced into the scalp for hair loss. These vital platelets contain growth factors that activate and rejuvenate cells in the body.

Growth Factors

The concentrated platelets in PRP contain tremendous amounts of bioactive proteins, which include the growth factors PDGF(platelet derived growth factor) and VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). These growth factors initiate and accelerate tissue repair, and, according to experts have also been shown to have positive effects for hair loss. This safe therapy has been around for decades and used successfully in the science of healing wounds and injuries.

Tissue Repair

The growth factors, when released, promote tissue repair, angiogenesis (capillary formation), collagen production, and encourage normalization of the hair follicular unit. Most importantly, evidence suggests PRP can reverse the miniaturization process of hair follicles (a result of dihydrotestosterone, DHT), when injected into the balding areas of the scalp. PRP contains many growth factors that stimulate the hair follicle’s growth and can be used pre-operatively, intra-operatively, or post-operatively.

Your Own Plasma

The PRP treatment approach involves drawing the patient’s own blood and spinning it to isolate the plasma that is enriched with growth factors. This plasma is then injected into the areas of hair loss and results start to be noticeable in about 60-90 days. Results can take up to a year. PRP can be used alone or safely combined with all other hair therapies such as transplantation, low-level laser therapy and topical and oral treatments such as those in the Anagen Hair Treatment Therapy.

PRP is great for people that are super busy and may not be able to get into the office for a clinic intensive treatment program like laser.

Before we do the PRP we analyze and document the thinning areas. We then administer the PRP in one to three treatments, depending on a variety of variables. Some patients may need several treatments closer together while others may only need to come back in 8 months later to assess their progress. If desired, we will administer another round of PRP for even more improvement. This can be done several times until the patient gets the outcome that they desire. Some patients may need more improvement than is possible with PRP alone. In those cases other therapies may be introduced to enhance results.

Sometimes the patient will do a hair transplant in the area to make the area even better. One of the things I’m most proud of is that we offer an array of options to help the patient get to the outcome that they want.